Samsung Galaxy A5 And A3 Are Mid-Range Water-Resistant Smartphones

Samsung has revealed a brace of smartphones to add to its mid-level Galaxy A series in the UK and Europe, designed to sit behind its Galaxy S7 flagship mobiles.

Heading up the line is the Galaxy A5, which sports a 5.2 inch full high-definition display, a 1.9GHz eight core processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage that can be expanded up to 256GB via the smartphones microSD card slot.

Its smaller sibling the Galaxy A3, features a 4.7 inch high-definition display, an eight core processor running at 1.6GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of on-board storage that like the Galaxy A5 can be expanded up to 256GB via the phone’s microSD port.

Expanding the Galaxy range

Both of the new Galaxy A smartphones come with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, as opposed to the latest Android 7.0 Nougat, which made its debut with Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones back in October 2016.

They also feature Samsung’s Knox security, making them suitable for use in the enterprise as well as consumer world. Samsung’s S-Voice voice control is also on offer alongside its fast charging feature, that as the name suggests allows for the smartphones to rapidly gain back lost power. The A5 sports a heftier battery, weighing in at 3,000mAh to the A3’s smaller 2,350mAh power pack.

For people who like snapping photos on smartphones, the A5 comes with a respectable 16MP brace of front and rear cameras, while the A3 comes equipped with a slightly lesser pair of snappers, with the rear camera offering 13MP and the front camera offering 8MP.

Following the example set by the Galaxy S7, the new Galaxy A smartphones both come with IP68 water and dust resistance, meaning they can withstand being used in the rain or in environments blasted with sand and dust, which could make the new phones appealing for people working in more industrial environments.

Despite this ability to fend off some of the elements, the Galaxy A phones still sport a metal frame and the 3D glass design seen with in its more premium mobile devices. The new smartphones come in four colours, with appropriately nebulous names: Black Sky, Gold Sand, Blue Mist and Peach Cloud.

Pre-orders for the brace of Galaxy A smartphones go live from January 20 with them due to be available early February. However, Samsung has yet to reveal pricing for wither of the models. Though we can hazard a guess that with the A5 it would follow the same pricing model its 2016 predecessor and retail for around £300 to £400.

The new Galaxy A phones are the first out of the gate from the big tech companies in 2017. But how much do you know about the top models from 2016? Try our quiz!